Shane Hurlbut, the cinematographer on “Act of Valor,” was able to put the Canon 5D DSLR in positions that directors wouldn’t dream of using with a more traditional movie camera.

JOHNSTON, IOWA—Regular readers of
Digital Journal know that I am firmly convinced
that the value and the future of local
broadcasting is in the local station’s ability
to acquire and create compelling local content.
As the quantity and variety of methods
for consumers to consume content increase,
the value proposition for being a primarily
a carrier of content created by others becomes
increasingly more difficult to sustain
while still maintaining a credible presence
in the local market. So it should come as no
surprise that when Iowa Public Television
started to look at the digital conversion I
championed the idea that we needed to create
the best local content we could at the
highest quality possible.

We built a facility that is 100 percent high-definition based initially on Sony HDW-700
camcorders and SRW-5500’s and HDW-2000
record decks. We have since migrated to
XDCAM utilizing PDW-700 camcorders and
PDW-F75 and PDW-U1 decks. When making
the transition from tape-based to disc-based
media, we also took advantage of the improved
video quality offered in the XDCAM
system by utilizing the MPEG-HD422 mode
codec to acquire content in full 1920x1080
resolution and 24-bit audio as compared to
the HDCAM, which was 1440x1080 and 20-bit audio. Because much of our content has
a long tail, our focus is always in acquiring at
the highest quality possibility.

WHAT ABOUT 4K?For the last few years I have been looking
into what will be our next acquisition
transition and started to look at camera systems
with 4K and greater imagers. Cameras
with these imagers primarily exist in the
realm of feature films, but
at the SMPTE conference in
2011 I saw a presentation
by cinematographer Shane
Hurlbut on using the Canon
5D to shoot the majority of
the 2012 film “Act of Valor.”
The image quality on a large
screen was stunning and because
of the relatively low
cost of the camera, he was
able to put them in positions
that you wouldn’t dream of
using a more traditional movie
camera. There is one overhead
shot in a room where a live hand grenade
is tossed in and you watch it explode.
However, the 5D is a DSLR camera and not
primarily designed to shoot moving video so
they had to essentially turn off a lot of the
camera’s features since they were designed
to optimize still photography.

At the 2012 NAB Show I stumbled upon
the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Coming from the world of television I confess that it
is an odd looking camera when compared to
what I am used to seeing but I made note of
it primarily because it produced images that
were at least as good as anything we have at
IPTV and it was priced at just under $3,000.
At NAB this year I checked out the Blackmagic
Production Camera 4K which has a
super 35 imager and utilizes EF or ZE mount
lenses. It’s priced at just under $4,000, which
puts this camera that is designed to acquire
UHD content in the price range of many of
the DSLR’s that have added video acquisition
to what is essentially a still camera.

Blackmagic Production Camera 4K

I don’t think this market is lost on the
more traditional DSLR manufacturers. At CES
this year I stopped by and looked at a number
of DSLR-type cameras that
are optimized for their potential
role as cinema cameras. Canon
has the EOS-1D C, which uses
a 18 megapixel imager for better
than 4K resolution but the
price tag is pretty hefty at about
$12,000 and audio recording
still looks to be a little behind
the curve compared to what I
am used to in a dedicated video camera. Last
year I borrowed a Nikon D5100 and used it
to shoot some high definition video just to
get a feel for what it was like. I was quite
impressed with the quality of the video, but
again, the form factor seemed a little odd. I
did stop at Nikon at CES but their focus (pardon
the pun) seemed more on their compact
still cameras than on their highline DSLR’s
entering into the digital cinema world.

I was able to try out both the D7100 and
the D800, both of which were extremely
comfortable to use. I am probably a throwback,
but there is something very comforting
about looking through the lens at the image
as opposed to looking at the image on a small
display mounted on the back of the camera.

A CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVESo what does this have to do with cameras
at IPTV? Last April, one of our PDW-700’s fell off its tripod due to a worn mount.
As is the rule, it of course fell lens first to
insure maximum damage. The camera
body was shipped off to Sony service for
evaluation an estimate for the repair. The
estimate came back at just over $20,000; a
replacement was just under $30,000. Given
the age of the camera and the fact that
the repair estimate didn’t include any work
on the mechanics of the disc system, we
opted to go with a new camera body for
$30K. This is not a knock on Sony; the industry
is changing. But when we think that
the same $30,000 would have purchased
10 of the Blackmagic Cinema Camera bodies,
it is time to adjust our thinking.

Another epiphany for me came while discussing
this topic with my wife. I explained
to her that my topic was camcorders and
she looked at me and said “when you have
kids, you go out and buy one.” At this very
moment, new parents are recording home
videos using consumer cameras that probably
deliver better images than what we are
currently acquiring our content with. So it
appears to me that the next transitional step
in acquisition at IPTV will not only involve
better pictures and audio but an adjustment
in the type of equipment we use and how
we operate it. We may actually be trying to
keep up with the Jones.

Bill Hayes is the director of engineering
for Iowa Public Television. He can be
reached via TV Technology.